TLC‘s Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas dated Usher for a few years in the early 2000s – but it apparently went on to ruin future relationships for her for years to come.
Ahead of the premiere of the new Lifetime documentary TLC Forever, Chilli opened up about her former flame in a conversation with PEOPLE published on Thursday (June 1).
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“I even stopped dating [in 2019] because before that, I thought if I met the right guy during that time that I wasn’t over [Usher] it wouldn’t work,” she admitted. “I would never want to straddle the fence.”
Chilli also clarified that Usher’s Confessions album was not about their split, despite what many have assumed over the years because of the fact it dropped the year they broke up. “I was with him at the studio that whole time,” she explained.
Though they split in 2004, Chilli revealed she and Usher remained off and on for years and would get back together when they weren’t in other relationships – which led to her cutting off all contact with him in 2019 to “to focus on myself.”
“I love hard. I was like, ‘God, why can’t I get over this?’ He couldn’t either,” she admitted.
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Chilli has since moved on, and is currently dating actor Matthew Lawrence. “I have never experienced anything like this,” she added. “He wants to be the best guy he can be and who God wants him to be. God-willing one day we’ll get married.”
TLC Forever airs Friday (June 3) at 8pm ET/PT on Lifetime. In addition to their history, the Matthew Kay-directed film will also highlight what Chilli and T-Boz are up to currently, including prepping a forthcoming summer tour. Questlove and Missy Elliott make appearances as well.
This summer’s tour follows their 2021 CrazySexyCool trek – which suffered a few setbacks including when two Texas dates had to be postponed after T-Boz suffered an allergic reaction.
“Due to extreme cigarette and recreational smoke being present backstage at a previous show, T-Boz suffered an allergic reaction,” their announcement read. “The group has always enforced a strict no smoking policy at their shows in an effort to prevent any health related issues for the group and/or crew.”
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Diagnosed with sickle cell anemia as a child, T-Boz has battled the autoimmune disease throughout her career. In a 2020 interview with HipHopDX, she spoke about how CBD has helped her not spend days in the hospital undergoing treatment.
